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Washington, D. C, November 28, 1915. 
Rev. Dr. Randolph H. McKim, 

Rector Church of the Epiphany. 
Dear Doctor McKim : 

So many persons who were fortunate enough to hear 
your eloquent and inspiring sermon on Thanksgiving Day 
have expressed a strong desire to see it in print, that the un- 
dersigned members of the vestry, and others, are moved to 
request permission to have it published in pamphlet form. 

Faithfully yours, 

Geo. Truesdell, 
Henry D. Fry, 
Mark F. Finley, 
A. R. Shands, 
C. N. Osgood, 
Byron S. Adams, 
Nath'l Wilson. 



FEB 8 1916 



A SERMON. 



National Opportunity and Responsibility. 



'Let us search and try our ways." — Lam. Ill, 40. 



In obedience to a long-honored custom, the people of the 
United States are invited to assemble in their places of 
worship today to render thanks and praise to the Almighty 
Father, the giver of all good, for the fruits of the earth, and 
all the other blessings of his bountiful providence. 

We respond to the invitation with grateful hearts. The 
earth has yielded her increase with prodigality unexampled, 
perhaps, since we became a nation. The sun of prosperity 
has again risen upon our land. Peace reigns throughout 
our borders, and, as the President has reminded us, "our 
ample financial resources have enabled us to steady the 
markets of the world." For these and other blessings it 
is meet and right that this great nation with its hundred 
million people should lift its heart and voice in devout 
thanksgiving to Almighty God. 

But our chief executive bids us consider today "our duty 
to ourselves and to mankind," and "to ponder the many 
responsibilities thrust upon us by the great war now being 
waged." In the same document he speaks of our people 
"realizing the part they have been called upon to play." 

My brethren, let us give heed to this exhortation. Let us 
ask this morning, very solemnly, as we review the history 
of the last fifteen moftth-s, ?iay^;\ye done our duty to our- 
selves? Have we done our duty to mankind? Have we 
bravely met the many responsibilities thrust upon us by this 
tremendous conflict? Have we nobly played the part we 
have been called upon to play in this time of unparallelled 
distresses and disasters ? 






There are undoubtedly some things upon which we, as 
American citizens, may dwell with real satisfaction. 

(1) The hearts of our people have nobly responded to 
the cry of distress from Belgium and Servia — vast sums of 
money have been poured out without stint for the relief of 
those suffering millions. 

(2) We may also contemplate with satisfaction the 
splendid work done by our American Red Cross on the 
fields of battle, in the hospitals, and in the devastated homes 
of the people. 

(3) We are justly proud also of the services bravely 
and impartially rendered by our Ambassadors in London, in 
Berlin, in Brussels, in Paris, in Constantinople. The names 
of Whitlock and Herrick and Sharp and Girard and Mor- 
genthau and Page are worthy of all honor. They have shed 
lustre on the American name. 

(4) With even greater satisfaction we contemplate the 
heroic labors of our medical experts, bravely rendered, often 
at the cost of life itself, fighting the battle against disease 
in stricken Servia. For all these things we are proud and 
thankful. 

But "our duty to ourselves and to mankind" demanded 
much more than this. The responsibilities thrust upon us 
by the time were too serious, were of too great proportions, 
to be met by gifts of money, or by brave diplomatic services, 
or even by the heroic labors of philanthropy. The Thanks- 
giving proclamation bids us "be thankful that we have been 
able to assert our rights and the rights of mankind." and it 
must be acknowledged that in more than one state paper 
they have been asserted with great dignity and force and 
in very trenchant English. But our duty called for some- 
thing more than the assertion of the rights of mankind, and 
our own. Have we performed that duty? 

Consider. We allowed the neutralitv of Belgium to be 
violated without a word of protest. We saw the country of 
the Belgians ruined and devastated, its ancient hospitable 
soil sown with thousands of tombs : its cities burned ; its 
peaceful citizens shot to death by hundreds and thousands, 
and still we raised no voice of protest. We were powerless 
indeed to stav the hand of violence and crueltv when it seized 



the throat of poor httle Belgium. But it was in our power 
to Hft up our voice before tlie civiHzed world against this 
brutal and unspeakable crime. This at least we could have 
done, but this we failed to do, and so failed of our high 
duty before God and humanity. And when the Belgian 
commissioners presented the wrongs of their crucified na- 
tion in our capitol we turned them away with icy phrases, 
and bid them present their case to the Hague tribunal! 

Passing over many minor matters, I ask did we do our 
duty to ourselves and to mankind when the Lusitania was 
barbarously attacked on the high seas, and a thousand 
human beings, men, women, and little children, sent to their 
deaths? We did, indeed, protest against this deed of horror 
and inhumanity in a state paper which has seldom been 
equaled in diplomatic history. It was a brave and splendid 
assertion, not only of the rights of American citizens, but 
of the rights of humanity. When we read it our hearts 
leaped up in thankfulness. 

It was not long, however, before other vessels 
bearing American citizens were torpedoed, and again 
American lives were lost. Once more, in ringing tones, 
our chief magistrate asserted the purpose to hold to "strict 
accountability" the nation that had thus outraged the dignity 
of the United States, and destroyed the lives of our citizens. 
But the outrages did not cease. 

Again, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity, a peace- 
ful merchant ship was destroyed and American lives de- 
stroyed with it. Then there came a brave, stern demand 
that these infamous acts should cease, and the purpose was 
affirmed in words of adamantine force, to hold the guilty 
nation to account for its crimes. 

Again we rejoiced that our chief magistrate had so nobly 
expressed the mind and purpose of the nation. Again we 
believed that those brave words would be followed by deeds 
as brave. But more than seven long months have passed 
since the Lusitania horror burst upon the world, and still 
nothing has been done to avenge the deaths of those Ameri- 
can citizens, men, women, and children, ruthlessly murdered 
on the high seas ! Nothing has been done to vindicate the 
insulted majesty of our Republic! Our words have been of 



adamant — our deeds have not crystallized, — they are still in 
the fluid state! 

But what could we have done, it may be asked. Should 
we have declared war on Germany? No. But we should 
have broken off diplomatic relations with a nation that had 
thus wantonly outraged every principle of humanity, and 
insulted the majesty of the Republic, This action would 
have been supported by a vast majority of our people. Our 
citizenship had been outraged ; our national dignity defiantly 
trampled upon ; and our whole people were aroused to such 
a pitch of indignation that the government would have been 
sustained by an overwhelming majority in vigorous and 
uncompromising action. 

But what, it may be asked, would have been accomplished 
by breaking oft" diplomatic relations in response to the loud 
demand of our citizens? I answer, several things of great 
moment might have been expected to result. 

In the first place we should have consolidated public 
opinion. We should have taken a great step to unify our 
nation. We are a composite people; many races mingle 
their tides on our shores. It should, therefore, have been 
one of the supreme tasks of statesmanship to weld these 
peoples into one, to fuse together these diverse elements. 

Again, in doing so we should have banished from our 
midst those numerous representatives of foreign powers 
who are hostile to our country, and we should have broken 
up many nests of conspiracy, where representatives of alien 
nations have been plotting against the peace and prosperity 
of our land. We should have driven into their holes thou- 
sands of disloyal citizens who have been obeying the be- 
hests of foreign powers while still clutching the privileges 
of American citizenship. 

But more important than this, we should have vindicated 
the honor and majesty of our country. We should have 
given expression to the real sentiments of nine-tenths of our 
people. We should have taken our stand by the side of the 
great Democracies who are fighting our battles today against 
the encroachments and usurpations of autocratic tyranny. 
And we should have thrown into the scale the immense 
weight of our influence, as the mightiest neutral power, 
on the side of humanity and law and liberty. 



But it will be said, such a course might have led to war. 
I answer, not necessarily so. Not unless Germany saw fit 
to declare war against us, — which it is not likely she would 
have done. 

But suppose it might have led to war? Is a great and 
powerful nation to submit to insults and outrage rather than 
run the risk of war? The central European powers have, 
in fact, been levying war against the United States for 
seven months past. They have been attacking our indus- 
tries, they have been interfering with our domestic affairs, 
they have been fomenting strikes, they have plotted to 
blow up our public buildings, to burn our factories, to blow 
up our ships. Read the Declaration of Independence and 
see how small were England's acts of oppression against 
the colonies in comparison with what we have endured at 
the hands of the central Empires. What an indictment 
Thomas Jefferson could have drawn up, were he with us 
today, against Germany and Austria! And I ask, should 
we fail of our duty in a great world crisis when the blood 
of our citizens cries to Heaven for vengeance because we 
are afraid of the consequences? Where is the spirit of 'yd, 
when thirteen feeble colonies did not hesitate to challenge 
the power of the mighty English empire rather than sub- 
mit to unjust taxation — a tax on tea? 

Men say, "What could America, in its defenseless condi- 
tion, without an army, and with so small a navy, what could 
America do against the mighty armaments of Germany and 
Austria?" I answer, zvhat could Germany and Austria do 
against America so long as the British fleet commands the 
seas? They could not land a soldier on our shores! The 
most they could do would be to smuggle a submarine across 
the Atlantic and attack our commerce. 

And novv another outrage has been committed. Another 
ship (the Ancona), has been sunk, and as American citizens 
were assassinated on the Lusitania, and on the Arabic, and 
on the Hesperian, American citizens have now again been 
assassinated with brutal cruelty on board the Ancona. 

This new outrage offers a fresh opportunity to our Gov- 
ernment, — not to speak, or to write dispatches, — but to act 



8 

in defense of the insulted majesty of the RepubHc. We 
trusted our President. We were ready to give him whole- 
hearted support. We expected that his virile assertion of 
the rights of American citizens and of the rights of human- 
ity (which so stirred our blood), would have been fol- 
lowed by action, vigorous action; but after watchfully wait- 
ing in vain for seven months, we frankly say we are dis- 
appointed. Will we be disappointed now ? 

In my opinion, American citizens should no longer keep 
silence. We have patiently waited to be led in the path of 
duty, but we have waited in vain. "Hope deferred maketh 
the heart sick." We ask now, not for strong and resolute 
words, but for strong and resolute action. 

Let it not be said that the words I have uttered this morn- 
ing are not fitting in the Christian pulpit. I hold, on the 
contrary, that it is the duty of the Christian pulpit to de- 
nounce the sordid and selfish ideals that have regard only to 
trade and comfort and peace. The Christian pulpit should 
call trumpet-tongued to the people to be true to our Ameri- 
can ideals; true to the principles of liberty and justice en- 
shrined in our history ; true to the great principles of Dem- 
ocracy embodied in our Constitution. I remember that it 
was Mattathias, the priest, who fired the hearts of the 
Jews to resist the tyranny of Antiochus : "My sons, be 
valiant and show yourselves men," he cried ! It was the 
aichbishop of Canterbury, who headed the barons at Runny- 
mede when they wrung the Magna Charta from the tyrant 
John ! It was the prophet Ezekiel who was charged to watch 
and warn the people of the approach of the enemy ! 

The leaders of the Christian Church have often, in great 
national crises, stood forth to utter the people's voice against 
tyranny. I feel, therefore, that it is not only my right, but 
my duty, to give utterance to the sentiments which I be- 
lieve throb in many hearts in our country today. I make 
my own, the words recently uttered by one of our ablest 
legal lights — "I venture to say, in all reverence, that the God 
of nations will be better pleased on the coming Thanksgiv- 
ing Day, — which should also be one of penitence and humil- 
ity — if we do a little more in fact, as well as in words, to 
safeguard the rights of humanity." 



We confront today, my fellow citizens and my fellow 
Christians, the most serious crisis that has arisen in the 
United States for half a century. It is a solemn hour in 
which we live. The honor of our country is at stake. The 
security of our citizens on the high seas is in constant 
jeopardy. Our domestic peace is invaded by the agents of 
foreign nations. Arson and murder are plotted in the very 
midst of our peaceful communities. Our supine policy of in- 
action has grieved and humiliated the hearts of our citizens. 
A disloyal press, doing the bidding of foreign nations, boldly 
flaunts itself before our eyes. The fires of patriotism are 
burning low among thousands of our people. Meanwhile 
our country has sufi^ered serious loss of prestige. The name 
of American citizen no longer commands the respect it once 
did. In such a crisis our citizens have a duty to perform. 
They should frankly express their sentiments, and I believe 
that the great majority of our citizens, practically all true 
Americans, are of opinion that our policy should be governed 
in this great crisis, not by councils of timidity or interna- 
tional opportunism, but by a steadfast regard to the aspira- 
tions and ideals handed down to us by our Revolutionary 
ancestors; by fidelity to the principles of liberty and Dem- 
ocracy enshrined in our Constitution ; by a brave determina- 
tion to vindicate the honor and majesty of the Republic; 
by a stern resolution, at whatever cost, to repel the open or 
secret assaults of foreign powers on our domestic peace 
and harmony; above all, by loyalty to justice, that justice 
which should dominate all the moral forces; that justice 
which "as ancient as humanity itself, eternal as the need 
of man and nations," is the basis of all civilization. 

Our President speaks of the principles of "peace and free- 
dom" by which we have always sought to be guided, but I 
trust we have also always sought to be guided by the prin- 
ciples of justice and humanity, and that we should always 
be prepared to assert these principles, and to sufifer for them 
if need be. 

As it is true of tljA individual, that "no man liveth to 
himself," so it is true of a nation — no nation can afford to 
live to itself. It must consider the rights and happiness of 
other nations. There are crises in the history of a nation 



10 



when the words of Christ, "he that saveth his life shall lose 
it" find their national application. Better even the losses 
and the sufferings of war, terrible as they are, than the loss 
of honor — the- failure to respond to our national ideals, 
the humiliation of our national name. Listen to the brave 
words of the leader of the bar of Brussels in an address 
which led to his being cast into a Prussian prison: "Why 
these sacrifices, zvhy this sorrozv? Belgium could have 
avoided these disasters, saved her existence, her treasures, 
and the lives of her people, hut she preferred her honor!" 

In conclusion let me guard myself against misunderstand- 
ing. God forbid that I should utter a word that could add 
9 feather's weight to the heavy burden that rests on the 
President's shoulders. 

All true Americans should wish to support their chief 
magistrate and to labor sympathetically with him in his ef- 
forts to grapple with the difficult tasks that confront him 
at this crisis. 

But it is for that very reason that we appeal to him to 
adhere bravely to the principles he has so clearly enunciated 
in his diplomatic correspondence with Germany. We are 
confident that a courageous course of action, just in line 
with his strong and patriotic utterances last spring and 
summer, would lighten his burden and clear out of his 
pathwav many of the difficulties and dangers that now beset 
it. It is our friendliness to him — our sincere loyalty — our 
earnest wish that he should overcome the difficulties that 
face him, and triumph over the people who are at once 
his enemies and the enemies of our country, that moves 
us to urge upon him a different course from that which he 
is now pursuing — to seize the opportunity that again pre- 
sents itself to take bold and decisive action in vindication 
of the honor of our country. Is it too much to ask him to 
banish from our shores the plotters and conspirators who, 
wearing the livery of foreign nations, and accepted as rep- 
resentatives of friendly powers, have been using their diplo- 
matic positions as bases whence to wage war against the 
peace of our country? 



11 

The President no doubt desires to know the sentiments 
of the people, and as many public men hesitate to speak 
out, and as the officers of the Army and Navy do not enjoy 
the right of free speech, it may well be that the voice of 
the pulpit — which has no political or racial bias — will have 
unique value as an expression of public sentiment. We 
who minister in the things of God occupy a position of de- 
tachment — unaffected by the currents of politics or of com- 
mercial interests. 

The people, we are confident, are heartily with the Pres- 
ident in his patriotic purpose to put the country in a state 
of preparation against any attack that may be made upon 
it by a foreign power; and we also believe that the people 
would be just as heartily with him, if he should justify the 
stern purpose expressed in his last Note to Germany by ap- 
propriate action now. 



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